Tom Noonan grew up in the Midwest and calls Rochester, Minn., his hometown, but he fell in love with the Mid-Atlantic when a job opportunity took him to Washington, D.C., several years ago. After spending time in Texas, he moved to Baltimore at the end of December to become head of the city's main tourism organization. "This is like coming home," Noonan says. Noonan, 42, lives with his wife, Mindy, in Canton with their miniature dachshund, Macy. 1. New music for my iPod "I'm a fan of all kinds of music.

BaltimoreAug. 17-20 Rural Utilities national conference, Omni Inner Harbor. Contact: Ken Ackerman, 202-720-9460. Estimated attendance: 600Aug. 18-20 United Trout Farmers Association conference, Sheraton Inner Harbor. Contact: Mary Wiltshire, 304-728-2189. Estimated attendance: 200InformationThe Sun lists selected conventions of general interest or with exhibits open to the public from those provided by the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. This is not a list of all industrial, business or organizational conventions and meetings which are held in Baltimore, most of which are not open to public participation.

Baltimore Jan. 26-30 United States Pony Clubs annual meeting, Renaissance Harborplace, Pratt and Commerce streets. Contact: Peggy Entrekin, 606-254-7669. Estimated attendance: 300 Information The Sun lists selected conventions of general interest or with exhibits open to the public from those provided by the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. For Washington-area convention information, call 202-789-7000.

Dan M. Lincoln, the Baltimore convention bureau's senior vice president of sales and marketing, said yesterday that he will step down from that position next month to pursue other interests. Lincoln's departure, effective Oct. 3, will come several weeks after Leslie R. Doggett took over as the new president and chief executive of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. The organization has been struggling with sagging convention sales and internal turmoil after a highly critical outside evaluation and the ouster of the association's former chief executive, Carroll R. Armstrong.

As the search for a new leader for Baltimore's beleaguered convention bureau stretches into its fifth month, the city is at a competitive disadvantage and rapidly losing critical ground to competing cities, experts say. "Every month that passes hurts the destination and hurts the hotel industry," said Speros A. Batistatos, owner of Destination Development Group, a Chicago-based convention and hospitality consulting company. "Baltimore starts to suffer from a lack of visibility in the marketplace."

In a reversal, the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, the group charged with bringing convention business to Baltimore, will not release an independent consultant's evaluation of its operations. The decision by the association, which receives public funds, drew strong objections from top state officials yesterday, a day after the organization's beleaguered chief executive announced his resignation. The recently completed evaluation was ordered after The Sun published articles in June that showed a $151 million Baltimore Convention Center expansion failed to deliver the business it had projected.

By June Arney and Robert Little and June Arney and Robert Little,SUN STAFF | January 24, 2003

Carroll R. Armstrong, the embattled head of Baltimore's convention and visitors association, announced yesterday that he is resigning after seven years as a leader in the city's efforts to develop a major tourism and convention trade. The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association said Armstrong will become a "special consultant" to the group's board when he resigns as president and chief executive effective Feb. 1. The association also named Armstrong to the search committee that will find and select his replacement, making him the panel's first appointee.

The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association named a Connecticut-based performance management company yesterday to conduct the association's first-ever evaluation. One of BACVA's jobs is to attract groups to the Baltimore Convention Center, which has failed to achieve the results promised after a multimillion-dollar expansion. Performance Management Inc. of Stamford, Conn., was chosen from among 11 bids. BACVA officials declined to reveal the cost of the review but said bids ranged from $40,000 to more than $200,000.

The long-delayed visitors center planned for the west shore of the Inner Harbor is likely to miss most of another tourist season after a setback yesterday that will force the project to be rebid. The Board of Estimates rejected three bids because they did not properly document an intent to comply with minority participation requirements, said Andrew B. Frank, executive vice president of Baltimore Development Corp., the city's economic development agency. A fourth bid was rejected because it was over budget, Frank said.

A "top-to-bottom" review of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association is under consideration, the board chairman of the group charged with bringing conventions and trade shows to the city said yesterday. It would be the first comprehensive examination of the association's operation. That analysis could include an examination of the association's performance since a $151 million expansion of the Convention Center, which tripled its exhibit space, in 1997. It could also include an audit of room nights - the number of hotel rooms used - and an examination of the structure of the organization and whether Baltimore is going after the right markets and using the right measurements to evaluate success.

Armed with telephones, prospect lists and hot-pink markers, volunteers gathered at the Baltimore Convention Center yesterday to try to replace convention business lost in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks. The sales blitz, which continues today, is aimed at 3,000 East Coast meeting planners, who plan at least five meetings a year, using 100 to 1,000 hotel rooms per night during traditionally slow months. About 45 volunteers from the hospitality industry are expected to make 3,000 calls over the two days on behalf of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association.